Time Warner Subs Get Fresh Start

Time Warner Cable launched its “Start Over” feature in South Carolina today, allowing more than 10,000 digital customers to restart a program in progress.

The launch included programming from 60 networks and the feature is free to Time Warner’s digital cable customers in Irmo, S.C., a part of the Columbia, S.C., market. Time Warner expects to expand the feature to 137,000 digital cable customers in South Carolina in the coming months, aiming to reach all digital homes in the market early next year.

Start Over, enabled by a software upgrade to VOD and digital set-top boxes, allows viewers to record a program in progress, as long as they tune in before the show ends. When customers tune to a show enabled with the feature, they are alerted of their ability to start the program over, through an on-screen prompt.

Participating networks at launch include Oxygen; cable networks from Turner, Viacom, NBC, Scripps, Comcast and Discovery families; Lifetime Real Women; HBO and Cinemax and their digital spin-offs; and the NBC and WB affiliates in Columbia. TWC also has agreements with content providers including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Universal Studios and New Line Cinema. Programs enabled with the feature include MTV’s TRL, NBC’s The West Wing and CNN’s Larry King Live.

TWC will roll out Start Over in other markets throughout 2006. The company has launched other features in South Carolina, including HBO On Demand and TWC’s interactive television suite, including caller ID on TV.